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Chemistry
"Chemistry" is the eighth episode of the second season of . It originally aired on October 24, 1998. While attending Veronica Vreeland's wedding, Bruce Wayne meets Susan Maguire. He soon falls in love with her and it's not long before he asks for her hand in marriage. However, unknown to Bruce there's more to Susan than meets the eye. Plot catches the bouquet at Veronica's wedding.]] At Vreeland Manor, Veronica Vreeland is revealed to have gotten married and is in the middle of her (fourth) wedding reception. A crowd of women gather as she throws the boutique, which is caught by Susan Maguire. Susan is approached by the wedding photographer, who asks to get of photo of her and the man who caught the garter... Bruce Wayne. Veronica then arrives and introduces Susan as a friend to her new husband, Michael. Veroncia expresses that Michael is certainly the one for her and says that she would have introduced Bruce to him sooner, but everything was so sudden as they have only known each other for a few weeks. Veronica and Michael both agree that it was chemistry between them, as Veronica hopes that someday it may happen to Bruce himself. is distracted by some happier thoughts.]] During the rest of the reception, Barbara and Tim are revealed to have also attended and watch as the guests slow-dance together. Tim expresses his distaste to it, but Barbara says that someday he may find it useful. Tim, however, soon leaves as he sees that Alfred has arrived. Tim expresses his gratitude to Alfred, revealing he came at the perfect time, but they both see that he was late for Bruce as they watch him and Susan slow dance. Bruce finds himself taken with Susan - so taken, in fact, that he is distracted during that evening's patrol as Batman, and Robin has to save him from a thug during a routine store robbery. Later at the Batcave, Tim informs Alfred of Bruce's strange behavior. Alfred then begins to wonder where Bruce has gone and Tim says that wherever he is, it must be important. Batman is patrolling one of the buildings, where it is revealed that Batman is actually checking on Susan from afar, watching her watering her favorite flowers. After a few weeks, Bruce and Susan are on his private yacht, where they both admit they have been thinking of each other ever since Veronica's wedding. Susan even admits that she thought that he wouldn't call her back since he's always so busy. Bruce reveals that's all about to change, as he gives her a package containing her favorite flowers. Bruce proposes to her, and they share a kiss, Susan happily accepting his proposal. Later at the Batcave, Bruce breaks the news to his comrades that he has decided to finally give up being Batman. Revealing that he has finally found the perfect woman for him and that they can carry the job on without him. and Susan Maguire are married.]] A few days later at Wayne Manor, Bruce and Susan are wed, where both friends and colleagues have arrived for the big day. Susan admits that everything seems like a fairytale, but admits that one thing is missing: Veronica, as she is the person who introduced both of them, but neither her and Michael have arrived for the wedding. Bruce believes they must have other business to attend to, and leads Susan to go and talk with their guests. Everyone is happy for Bruce, except for Dick, who bets that it will only be a month before Bruce is back in costume again. Barbara, however, doesn't believe it be as she sees that Bruce has changed and is happy for him. She also admits that anyone can change and settle down including Dick. He tells Barbara not to get her hopes, believing her to still have feelings for him, which she quickly denies. Bruce and Susan later talk with Lucius revealing that for their honeymoon they will be going on a cruise with a few other newlyweds. However, they are interrupted by Alfred, who alerts Bruce that he has a phone call from Veronica. Bruce leaves Susan for a moment, taking the call where he hears Veronica hysterically pleading for help, saying there is something "terribly wrong" with her new husband. She is about to tell him what, but the call is cut off as she is attacked by Michael, leaving Bruce only hearing her scream. Susan arrives, asking what's happened, as Bruce informs her of the situation. He's upset he that he has to leave their wedding reception, but Susan assures him that she understands, and gives him her blessing to go help Veronica. Bruce thanks Susan with a kiss and leaves for Vreeland Manor. At Veronica's mansion, Michael is advancing menacingly on Veronica. He demands to know if she told Bruce about him. Veronica denies that she did, but Michael calls out her lies and is ready to strike her. Veronica quickly grabs a lamp and hits him over the head. She backs into a security vault in her bedroom and activates a grid of laser security beams, hot enough to incinerate any thief. Michael smiles and walks straight through the beams, which burn holes in his skin that heal up within seconds. Gasping, Veronica screams again as she is knocked unconscious. Bruce arrives at the mansion, but soon discovers it to be ablaze. He manages to enter the mansion while avoiding the flames and searches for Veronica until he finds her in the vault unconscious. He uses a nearby mirror to deflect the lasers and manages to enter the vault and rescue Veronica. Bruce carries her and they manage to escape the mansion just before it collapses. At the hospital, Bruce stays by Veronica's side when Michael runs in, Bruce explains what happened and asks Michael where he was, he replies saying he was in a business meeting and just heard the news. Bruce, suspicious, tells him that Veronica will regain consciousness in a few hours, and until then, he's taken the liberty of hiring security guards to watch her. As Bruce leaves the hospital to attend the honeymoon cruise, he orders Robin and Batgirl to tail Michael to find out what he's really up to. They follow Michael back to a greenhouse to report to his mistress, Poison Ivy. She scolds him for giving away her scheme too early, but he said it wasn't his fault. He bares his chest, revealing leaves sprouting from it, and says that Veronica saw them. Deciding that Michael's disguise is no longer useful, Ivy rips off his outer skin like a dead leaf (causing Robin to retch and almost give away their position), revealing Michael to be a humanoid plant creature. Ivy remarks that they'll have to step up the timetable for their plan, the climax of which involves attacking a yacht cruise for newlyweds that Bruce and Susan are going on. After Ivy and Michael leave, Robin and Batgirl are attacked by some plants in Ivy's garden, and accidentally find a chemical that disintegrates the plants. They take some of the remaining chemical to synthesize more as a weapon. On the cruise, Bruce overhears his fellow passengers talking in glowing terms about their new husbands or wives: the passengers are all wealthy industrialists, while their new mates are all "perfect" — so understanding of their spouses' needs or preferences, so accommodating... Realizing something is wrong, Bruce confronts Susan in their stateroom, demanding to know more about her past, which she has been mysteriously silent about. After a brief quarrel, green liquid starts to leak from Susan's head, and her legs turn into huge vines that lasso Bruce and slam him into the ceiling. Bruce realizes that she is one of Ivy's creations, and she snared him using a concoction of Ivy's famous pheromones. Susan corrects him on one small point: she did use the pheromones to catch his attention, but making him fall in love with her was just a matter of playing the "perfect" woman. Bruce grabs a nearby lamp and electrocutes the vines, allowing him to break free. Escaping the room, he slams the door and jams it shut with a ladder, trapping Susan inside. On deck, the passengers and crew are panicking, as giant seaweed tendrils reach up from the ocean floor, fouling the propellers, bringing the ship to a dead stop. Ivy and Michael board the boat from a motor launch as Ivy informs the hapless passengers that she has made their perfect mates who, after their unfortunate deaths at sea, will become the natural heirs to their fortunes. The plant creatures are ready to leave the yacht until Ivy questions Susan's whereabouts, demanding that they find her. As the plant creatures starts searching, the spouses decides to fight back. meets her end.]] Announcing that it is time for them to go, Ivy commands the seaweed to tear a hole in the hull, sinking the ship. Robin and Batgirl then show up in the Batwing and use a chemical sprayer to disintegrate the plant-people. They also slip Bruce a Batsuit in a backpack as Bruce sneaks off for a minute to change. An enraged Poison Ivy grapples with Batman. Robin loads the innocent passengers onto Ivy's speedboat, and Batman tells them to leave without him. Eventually, Batman is able to throw Poison Ivy aside just as the yacht's engines overload and explode, breaking the yacht into two parts. The Batwing, piloted by Batgirl, flies by and dangles a ladder, and Batman grabs hold and is pulled free of the sinking ship, but is unable to grasp Poison Ivy's hand in time. Ivy apparently drowns in the water. As the Batwing flies away, Batman catches a glimpse of Susan, looking plaintively out of their cabin's porthole before it submerges. Expressionless, Batman flicks his wedding ring into the ocean. Continuity * In , "House & Garden", Poison Ivy was able to merge human DNA with growing plants to create "plant clones" of the respective person. Since then, she seems to have figured out how to make plants in human form with a personality of their own without using someone's DNA. * The fact that Zatanna is in attendance at Bruce's wedding indicates that she has somehow learned his true identity, though at their last meeting, in " ", she knew Batman only as her childhood friend, "John Smith". Zatanna's knowledge of Bruce's secret identity is later confirmed in the episode "This Little Piggy". * This is the fifth time Ivy has tangled with Bruce Wayne. First in , "Pretty Poison", she targeted Harvey Dent and Bruce for destroying the Wild Thorny Rose; next in "Eternal Youth", she targets him because of an environmental crime done without his knowledge from Wayne Enterprises; in "House & Garden" one of her plant creatures kidnaps Dick Grayson and demands a ransom from Bruce; and in "Holiday Knights", Ivy and Harley Quinn kidnap and take control of his mind so he will treat them to a Christmas shopping spree. Background information Home video releases * * Batman: The Complete Animated Series (DVD) * Batman: The Complete Animated Series (Blu-ray) Production notes * When Bruce is knocking at Veronica's door, the mansion explodes and there's a frame from the explosion of Ivy's greenhouse that comes up only later in this episode. * When the cruiser blows up from inside, the first explosion features footage from the episode "Splicers", specifically the scene where Carmine's Taxidermy Studio explodes and splinters fly about. * The design for Ivy's plant henchmen was re-used in the video game Batman: Vengeance. Production inconsistencies * Michael is credited as "Michael Vreeland", when, logically, Veronica would have adopted his last name, not the other way around. * Bruce Locke is erroneously credited as "Bruce Gilbert". * When Susan and Bruce are revealing plans for their honeymoon, Bruce's eyes keep changing from blue to black. Trivia * This episode marks the second time Poison Ivy has created plant-based artificial humans. She previously used a similar subterfuge in the BTAS episode "House & Garden". * Last appearances of Nightwing, Batgirl, Veronica Vreeland, and Poison Ivy on . * This and "Sins of the Father" are the only episodes of to feature all four members of the Bat-team (not including Alfred) in the same place at the same time, though Nightwing appears out of costume on both occasions. * Elements of the instrumental score "The Promise" from the feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm can be heard when Bruce announces his intention to give up being Batman. * Linda Hamilton later played another femme fatale, Dr. Stephanie Lake, in 's, "Meltdown", only this time she began a fake relationship with Mister Freeze rather than Batman. * The guest list at Bruce's wedding includes: ** Leslie Thompkins ** Dr. Joan Leland ** Kirk Langstrom ** Francine Langstrom ** Summer Gleeson ** Jack Ryder ** Zatanna ** Jason Blood ** Lucius Fox ** Bambi ** Commissioner Gordon ** Mayor Hamilton Hill * One of the plant creatures resembles Pierce Chapman from the episode "Birds of a Feather". * Batman and his allies apparently don't consider Ivy's creations to be sentient lifeforms, since they exterminate them without compunction. * This episode marks the final time Loren Lester provides the voice of Dick Grayson in the DCAU. * It is left unexplained why Veronica's state-of-the-art laser gate, which can cut through anything, can be deflected by a simple mirror. * This episode marks the last appearance of Veronica Vreeland in the DCAU franchise. She never reappeared after this episode. Cast Uncredited appearances * Bambi * Marie * Leslie Thompkins * Dr. Joan Leland * Kirk Langstrom * Francine Langstrom * Summer Gleeson * Jack Ryder * Zatanna * Jason Blood Quotes Category:A to Z Category:The New Batman Adventures episodes Category:Episodes directed by Butch Lukic Category:Episodes written by Stan Berkowitz